More context in one post by a Saskatchewan blogger than Charles Adler, Pierre Bourque and Stirling Faux combined were able to scrape together over an entire week;
Now imagine the British trying to cope with their entire Island in shambles, and having to evacuate an entire city under horrific conditions and provide housing and care for the flood of displaced people.
Or, imagine the entire bottom third of the province of Saskatchewan being without infrastructure; in other words all the roads in the populous part of the province being either blocked by trees or under water, with power and most utilities out. And then, imagine having to evacuate a million plus people� and then some.
Another way of looking at the scope of things might be to imagine the coastal countries of Belgium, Holland, and Denmark, with all coastal regions of Germany being either destroyed or compromised to the point where most infrastructure was unusable. How well could the EU respond, and how quickly?
Great Anlogies and thank you for making them, makes us look a little better, or at least demonstrates the scope of destruction better.
Context of Scale
Kate, at small dead animals, points to Katrina context from Saskatchewan blogger Celestial Junk Blog….
As I mentioned on Debris’ site, didn’t we already see AB, SK & MB having a good chunk under water this year (without the evacuation or hurricane devastation to boot) – and where were the feds????
Or, imagine what would happen to the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) when it receives the Magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake predicted by the USGS sometime in the next fifty years (which means it could happen tomorrow, folks).
Richmond, with over 160,000 residents, would probably liquify, and you could kiss Vancouver International airport goodbye. Most skyscrapers and condos in the city’s west end or downtown aren’t built to withstand a Mag 8; such a ‘quake would severely damage them, and a Mag 9 would probably telescope most of those high-rises into the ground.
There’s only one or two major routes out of the GVRD towards the Rockies to the east; they’d likely be severely damaged and impassable. Places like Mission or Pitt Meadows (especially Pitt Meadows!) would probably also liquify, considering their soils. There’d be no water, no sewer, no power, no gasoline, no available aviation gas, and no place for choppers to land where they could re-fuel again. Gas stations would also be destroyed.
You’ve got — what? three million people in the GVRD? — and mebbe half a million would die in a Mag 9 (call it 5,000 to 50,000 in a Mag 8). The remainder would be essentially trapped, many needing medical attention, all of them needing food, water, and shelter, with the nearest Canadian city of any size being Calgary, 900-odd klicks to the east-northeast. Under such a scenario, most of them would probably try to walk out to the U.S., overwhelming any remaining border security there.
And Paul Martin says “we’re prepared.” Man, I wasn’t aware that he was doing stand-up now.
The above scenario is highly likely, given sufficient time . Or imagine a far less likely one, but also insanely destructive: an asteroid strike, about the size of a small car, on or near any major Canadian city. “Buh-bye.”
Yeah, we’re ready. Like Hell we’re ready!
Face it: in an “ultra-catastrophe,” there is no level of planning and preparation sufficient to deal with the problem in a completely satisfactory way, because as a society we’re unwilling to set aside the incredible amounts of resources and personnel necessary to deal with that awful day, should it ever occur. Ultra-catastrophes simply strain our resources and ingenuity to the breaking point. As The Coshmeister pointed out on his site, the port of Kobe was hit eleven years ago by a huge earthquake, and still hasn’t recovered, even though reconstruction efforts were spurred by massive amounts of money.
Hmmmmmm imagine the greater Toronto area and Burlington-Hamiton…up the lake shore and river to Ottawa and Montreal under water…..imagine that…just imagine it 🙂
Think anyone would help?
Perfect analogies. Perhaps CTV, CNN, BBC etc might be encouraged to think, or rather, try to think, about these analogies.
I can’t watch their news stories – all focused around claims of incompetence of Bush, and ignoring that a massive destruction on this scale, has massive results.
I’m stunned by, for example, the TV focusing on one young woman, complaining how ‘uncomfortable’ it was to sleep on ‘the concrete floor’ of the Dome. Other images follow the same theme: anger at the government (federal) for ‘putting me into this situation’; an enormous sense of entitlement (where’s my new apartment and furniture that you are purchasing for me); and so on.
That’s what seems to have emerged – an indifference to the scope of the destruction, and an enormous sense of entitlement.
Nagin, by the way, seems to be a Stand-Up Comedian; his remarks are so far-out they are a joke. Now, he’s threatening an apocalpyse of ‘hidden bodies’; he presents us also with a scenario of his advising/ordering the US President and the Governor to ‘get their act together’..as he steps off AirForce One; now, he’s ordering a full evacuation (hmm..a bit late)..and the Army General has immediately said his men won’t be involved in that…
It’s quite the Comic Routine.
Read my comment on yesterday’s post “Rise To The Occasion’. I’m sick and tired of hearing everyone always blaming America and Bush. Neither are perfect but they’re the best in the world right now.
“Despite all the criticism and fault finding, can anyone name one other country that would have a hundred thousand plus residents evacuated to safe areas, fed, clothed and cared for medically, more than 51,000 troops, 38,000 National Guard forces and 13,000 Active Duty Force on the ground in the affected area less than one week after a disaster of this scope?…”
Garth Wood. I totally agree with you. I live in the Lower Mainland and I don’t know *anyone* who is ready to take care of themselves if and when this happens. For sure the Feds won’t help.
WL MacKenzie Redux. “Think anyone would help?” Ya’, the Americans. I’d love to sit in on the conversation between Martin and Bush when he has to ask for their help.
ET. I never watch TV news. Why would any sane individual, and I stress the “individual”, want to.
Again, I stress that the big story for Canadians is the corruption in New Orleans that lead up to this disaster, and its ties with our Canadian government. This disaster could have been avoided.
John, if I could extend on your *the big story is how Ottawa ties in with corruption in NO. It has much to do with Francophone Associations.
Terrorism, and how the Liberals are using it to defeat the Access to information Act, to get permission to follow us by cellphone, and to seal off information by imposing a life term secrecy oath on 6,000 employees in 14 government departments, is also the current *BIG STORY FOR CANADIANS*, and it’s underway as we speak.
Not to be too long off topic here; Check out what Darcy fills out on DUSTMYBROOM. 73s TG
I live in the Okanagan. We are ready for the “big one”:
For Sale: ocean view property….
Given the scale of the hurricane, I’m surprised at how well many of the affected parts are coping (e.g. in coastal Mississippi and Alabama). It appears that Louisiana and New Orleans in particular were completely unprepared and the scale of corruption apparent in the New Orleans police is almost unprecedented (see video of police looting a Walmart).
Regarding the rhetorical question of how well the EU would respond – keep in mind that New Orleans is located below sea level and is in a well documented hurricane alley. I would expect any European countries to be better prepared and most importantly, to follow a prepared emergency evacuation plan which New Orleans didn’t. Didn’t the Dutch face a major disaster when a North Sea storm caused a breach in the dykes leading to major flooding? I think they have learned their lesson.
A couple of comments.
1) With the criticism of Bush and his administration, don’t you think it’s just a little too self-serving for Bush to lead the inquiry into Hurricane Katrina? Wouldn’t it make more sense to appoint an independent investigator?
2) Barbara Bush’s comment:
“Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them,” Mrs. Bush told American Public Media’s “Marketplace” program.
3) Bush putting his arm around FEMA chief Michael Brown and saying “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” Brown’s chief claim to fame is the decade he spent as the chief rules enforcer for the Arabian Horse Association, which eminently qualified him for the post that Bush give him in 2000.
Sounds as though things will be getting very interesting around Washington over the next few months.
Thanks Tony. And yes, I’ve spent a couple hours looking into the la Francophonie and ties to the Canadian International Development Agency. Need a few more hours before I feel I have enough to post. But will do later. Lots of info online. I will check out Darcy as well.
John Crittenden said: “Think anyone would help?” Ya’, the Americans. I’d love to sit in on the conversation between Martin and Bush when he has to ask for their help.”
You’re probably right there John…America has a track record of going in first with aid and relief efforts wherever there is a disaster in some 3rd world backwater, whose Marxist government is woefully ill prepared to look after its own people…sounds a lot like Canada…the new northern banana republic with the bankrupt, belligerent criminal Junta in Ottawa.
Right now the US is probably more concerned for Ottawa’s welfare than this Albertan is.
Right on Todd!
Barbara Bush is the real problem here.
sarc/
Wake up you dumb robot.
Richfisher, if you think that people grow up in a vacuum, you’re sadly mistaken. I think one of the problems here is that the Bush dynasty has Queen Victoria-itis. Let them eat cake, indeed.
I guess this prove the sterotype — Hot and Stupid.
Why would Charles take time out from promoting same sex marriages as normal, for that?
Why does someone as old as him have no Children?
hmmmm,,,,
Lowell on CFRA in Ottawa rules,
better than anything in Winnipeg.
The inet freed me from radio waves.
PS I’m sure the EU would respond quickly and tell Bush he should send something quickly because it’s all his fault…
In Manitoba we flooded and Chretien called an election at least Bush hasn’t done that 😉
And caring Ontario gave them a majority.
Garth, I was born and raised in GVRD area and agree with most of what you said except that “most would walk to the U.S.”. Ummm, the earthquake zone doesn’t stop at the border. The U.S. is going to be in just as rough shape as Canada. The only real difference is that there are multiple routes of exit down there as opposed to GVRD.
The earthquake issue is one (small) reason I left Surrey and moved out to Calgary in ’97. According to geological evidence Vancouver is OVERDUE for a large earthquake. GVRD will be damn scary when the Mag 8 or 9 earthquake hits. I definitely don’t want to be out there when that happens. The Trans-Canada is bumper-to-bumper just with rush hour traffic, can you imagine what it will be like with EVERYONE trying to get out of town? No gasoline available for refilling? The Sea-to-Sky highway out through Squamish will be severely damaged if it’s even passable through West Van. The Fraser Valley is a flood plain so you’re not really going to find any solid ground until you reach Hope, and then the next closest major town is Merrit! Pretty scary stuff if you think about it.
Sorry Todd ,I misunderstood .
So ,her welcoming words to the refugees from the neibouring state to her home state and town are really a freudean slip of her entitled classist tongue.
This of course is what she raised her 6 kids to believe so that when they grow up to be president they can institutionalize a classist heirachy covertly.
The diabolical (80 year old grandmother) bitch!
Morris Abercrombie. I think that, for anyone living in the Lower Mainland the really important thing to do is to be on top of your own survival. Ample food, medical supplies, necessary medications, water, lots of batteries, propane or bricketts for the barbecue, and maybe even a backup generator, etc. are what’s important in the event of an earthquake. Even for a tsunami high ground is the important thing. I don’t necessarily think that getting out of town is that important except for some low lying areas and they would probably be under water anyway. For sure the natural gas will be turned off in many areas, and electricity as well. But it’s important to be able to look after one’s self without having to go to Safeway or wherever every couple days, like many do now. I doubt the truckers will be making much progress bringing anything in, if they’re running at all. I’m not that worried about bumper to bumper myself. I’d rather find some high ground and hunker down for a few days till some organization arrived to initiate rescue operations. Then I’d probably pitch in and help.
John C; one word, ‘porta-potti’ …oh yeh, and toilet paper!
John C, a serious earthquake in GVRD is going to do some serious damage. Back in the early ’90s BCTV had a trial run of what would happen in an earthquake scenario with Tony Parsnips er, Parsons commentating. As Garth said, Richmond really would be completely under water!Much of Tsawwassen & Ladner too! Tsunami isn’t really a big threat due to the protection offered by Vanc Island. Don’t forget the bridges. What if you live in Surrey but work in Vancouver/Burnaby? There won’t be access back to Surrey/Delta/Langley (or out of the area for that matter). This is assuming it is a big earthquake mind you, not one of the minor ones that hit your area a couple times a year.
BTW, DaninVan, Toilet Paper is apparently the first thing most people run out of in a crisis / disaster situation. I remember that from some of the Y2K hysteria back 5 yrs+ ago.
John, Pretty good off the cuff list there.
The first thing on any list is WATER. Everyone should have Six or more 4 litre containers stowed below, behind the pots and pans. Very handy when a water main breaks or the city does pipe cleaning
6 – 10 WATER in 4 litre milk containers.
2 burner propane stove [outside – back porch] with 2 20 Lb. bottles or 6 small.
First Aid Kit
2 6 volt hand lanterns with Alkaline battery
2 Alkaline battery portable radios.
Long term foods like Oats, Cream of wheat and Red River cerals you cook with water.
Dried apricots, raisins, dates and prunes that store well. You can eat apricots and raisons like candy. Goes with cereal.
Case of canned milk.
Solar cell and rechargable batteries are good.
Always buy the big 40+ family pack tussue.
Porta Pottie is a good idea. Otherwise in a real earthquake, you are forced to make something for sitting and carrying away fertalizer for disposal.
A generator is good, except for pouring the gas. Most people dont handle gas safely. It’s liquid dynamite.
Reminds me. I’m low on dried apricots. Try them. Yous’le give up candy.
Any other essential that you would add ?
73s TG
Damn…I forgot, fig bars. You can live for months on fig biscuits after your other food runs out during a severe emergency.
You can get packs of fig bars at Zellers here in B.C. for $1.47 a pack. It’s gotta be the best food deal around. I don’t know how they can sell at such a low price. Dumping in the Westrn market?
‘3s TG